The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Transformative Change through the Sustainable Development Goals?

The 2030 Agenda of the United Nations comprises 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 sub-targets which serve as a global reference point for the transition to sustainability. The agenda acknowledges that different issues such as poverty, hunger, health, education, gender equality, environmental degradation, among others, are intertwined and can therefore only be addressed together. Implementing the SDGs as an ‘indivisible whole’ represents the actual litmus test for the success of the 2030 Agenda. The main challenge is accomplishing a more integrated approach to sustainable development that encompasses new governance frameworks for enabling and managing systemic transformations. This thematic issue addresses the question whether and how the SDGs set off processes of societal transformation, for which cooperation between state and non-state actors at all political levels (global, regional, national, sub-national), in different societal spheres (politics, society, and economy), and across various sectors (energy, transportation, food, etc.) are indispensable. In this editorial, we first introduce the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs by providing an overview of the architecture of the agenda and the key challenges of the current implementation phase. In a second step, we present the eleven contributions that make up the thematic issue clustering them around three themes: integration, governance challenges, and implementation

Quantum-limited measurements of optical signals from a geostationary satellite

The measurement of quantum signals that traveled through long distances is of fundamental and technological interest. We present quantum-limited coherent measurements of optical signals, sent from a satellite in geostationary Earth orbit to an optical ground station. We bound the excess noise that the quantum states could have acquired after having propagated 38600 km through Earth's gravitational potential as well as its turbulent atmosphere. Our results indicate that quantum communication is feasible in principle in such a scenario, highlighting the possibility of a global quantum key distribution network for secure communication.Comment: 8 pages (4 pages main article, 4 pages supplementary material), 9 figures (4 figures main article, 5 figures supplementary material), Kevin G\"unthner and Imran Khan contributed equally to this wor

Genotoxicity characteristics of reverse diol-epoxides of chrysene

Trans-3,4-dihydroxy-3,4-dihydrochrysene (chrysene-3,4-diol), a major metabolite of chrysene, is further metabolized by rat liver enzymes to products which effectively revert the his− Salmonella typhimurium strain TA98 to histidine prototrophy, but are only weakly mutagenic in strain TA100 and in Chinese hamster V79 cells (acquisition of resistance to 6-thioguanine). The liver enzyme mediated mutagenicity of chrysene-3,4-diol is substantially enhanced in the presence of 1,1,1-trichloropropene 2,3-oxide, an inhibitor of microsomal epoxide hydrolase. The predominant metabolites of chrysene-3,4-diol, namely the anti- and syn-isomers of its 1,2-oxide (termed reverse diol-epoxides), proved to be extraordinarily effective mutagens in S.typhimurium strain TA98, but were only moderately active in strains TA100 and TA104, and in the SOS induction in Escherichia coli PQ37. These genotoxicity spectra in bacteria are completely different from those observed with the bay-region diol-epoxides of chrysene and 3-hydroxychrysene. In V79 cells, the reverse diol-epoxides formed low levels of DNA adducts and were very weak inducers of gene mutations. In M2 mouse prostate cells, however, high numbers of transformed foci were induced by chrysene-3,4-diol and its diastereomeric 1,2-oxides. Chrysene-3,4-diol was somewhat more potent than chrysene-1,2-diol. The potency of both reverse diol-epoxides was similar to that of the syn-diastereomers of the bay-region diol-epoxides of chrysene and 3-hydroxychrysene, but lower than that of their anti-diastereomers. The reverse diol-epoxides of chrysene, unlike the bay-region diol-epoxides, were inactivated by purified microsomal epoxide hydrolase. Noteworthy findings were also made with regard to the chemical stability of the diol-epoxides in buffer, determined from the decline in mutagenicity after preincubation in the absence of the target cells. Despite its lower ΔEdeloc/β value for the formation of the benzylic carbocation, anti-chrysene-3,4-diol 1,2-oxide was shorter-lived (t½ = 46 min) than anti-chrysene-l,2-diol 3,4-oxide (t½ = 74 min). Unlike other investigated diastereomeric pairs of diol-epoxides, it was also shorter-lived than its syn-diastereomer (t½12 = 340 min

Mineralogical characterization of scalings formed in geothermal sites in the Upper Rhine Graben before and after the application of sulfate inhibitors

Scale formation processes in the surface installations of geothermal power plants may have a negative effect on power plant performance. In addition, scales formed within the geothermal water circuit frequently accumulate natural radionuclides. Consequently, scale formation may lead to radiation dose rates, which are of radiological concern, and deposits, which may have to be disposed as radioactive waste. In order to minimize these problems and to foster geothermal power plant availability, it is of major interest to understand scale formation processes and to develop methods for their inhibition. One important pre-requisite towards this goal is a sound mineralogical and geochemical characterization of the formed material. Geothermal brines at sites in the Upper Rhine Graben are in general highly mineralized and become, upon cooling in the heat exchanger, supersaturated with respect to sulfate solid-solutions, e.g. (Ba,Sr)SO4, and other mineral phases. Some geothermal power plants very successfully tested the application of sulfate scaling inhibitors. Here we present mineralogical analyses of scale samples from geothermal power plants in the Upper Rhine Valley deposited in absence and presence of sulfate scaling inhibitors. Solid samples are investigated using wet-chemistry (after digestion), XRPD, SEM-EDX, XPS, EA-IRMS, Raman spectroscopy, and XANES (for explanation of abbreviations, see main text). Samples of scales deposited in the absence of a sulfate scaling inhibitor mainly consist of two phases. The largest part is made up of a barite type (Ba,Sr,Ca)SO4 solid-solution. Traces of Ra occurring in the scaling are assumed to be incorporated in the barite type solid solution. Further minor phases are sulfide phases, either an Xray amorphous nano-particulate phase or galena (PbS). Since the application of the sulfate inhibitor, sulfate minerals are no longer detectable in the scale samples. Subsequent scalings are Pb-dominated and consist mainly of galena (PbS), elemental lead (Pb), arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb). As and Sb are likely present as a nanocrystalline intermetallic mixed compound ((Sb, As) or Pb3(Sb,As)2S3). The absence of barite-type minerals demonstrates the success of the application of the sulfate inhibitor. The precipitation of elemental Pb, As, and Sb, which are more noble than iron, may enhance the corrosion of mild steel pipes in the geothermal water circuit. Elution tests and oxidation of the scalings upon storage at atmospheric conditions demonstrate that proper disposal of the toxic heavy metal and metalloid containing scalings may be challenging

Regulatory impact assessment : a survey of selected developing and emerging economies

This article reports on an in depth survey of the practice of Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) in 16 developing and emerging economies. It reveals that RIA is playing an increasing role in these countries: eight have introduced RIA in the last ten years; one has recently redesigned its existing RIA system; another has a longstanding RIA system in place. However, RIA still remains at an early stage of development in the majority of cases and six countries do not practice RIA.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rpmm202017-08-31hb201

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development : Transformative Change through the Sustainable Development Goals?

The 2030 Agenda of the United Nations comprises 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 sub-targets which serve as a global reference point for the transition to sustainability. The agenda acknowledges that different issues such as poverty, hunger, health, education, gender equality, environmental degradation, among others, are intertwined and can therefore only be addressed together. Implementing the SDGs as an ‘indivisible whole’ represents the actual litmus test for the success of the 2030 Agenda. The main challenge is accomplishing a more integrated approach to sustainable development that encompasses new governance frameworks for enabling and managing systemic transformations. This thematic issue addresses the question whether and how the SDGs set off processes of societal transformation, for which cooperation between state and non-state actors at all political levels (global, regional, national, sub-national), in different societal spheres (politics, society, and economy), and across various sectors (energy, transportation, food, etc.) are indispensable. In this editorial, we first introduce the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs by providing an overview of the architecture of the agenda and the key challenges of the current implementation phase. In a second step, we present the eleven contributions that make up the thematic issue clustering them around three themes: integration, governance challenges, and implementation